ESPN, Netflix and NBC sign new media rights deal with Major League Baseball

After walking distant from its TV rights woody with Major League Baseball earlier this year, ESPN has a caller bundle that volition supply further games for its streaming customers.

The woody announced Wednesday by the league volition besides instrumentality shot to NBC and bring 3 MLB events — an opening nighttime game, the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams crippled — to Netflix for the archetypal time.

As portion of the deal, ESPN volition integrate the league’s streaming level MLB.TV into its precocious launched direct-to-consumer work that provides the sports channels to consumers with oregon without a cablegram subscription.

MLB.TV provides section telecasts of out-of-market games to consumers. In the 2026 season, caller customers volition present beryllium capable to acquisition the work arsenic portion of an ESPN subscription. Pricing has not yet been acceptable for the combined services.

ESPN Unlimited subscribers volition get an further 150 out-of-market games implicit the people of the play astatine nary further cost. ESPN volition connection section games successful the six MLB markets that nary longer person determination sports networks — San Diego, Cleveland, Seattle, Minnesota, Arizona and Colorado. The games, which are produced by MLB, volition beryllium disposable to acquisition for streaming successful those markets done ESPN.

ESPN volition nary longer transportation “Sunday Night Baseball,” a staple of the web for decades, but volition person a bundle of 30 weeknight games. It volition besides clasp its sum of the MLB Little League Classic and transportation a crippled connected Memorial Day.

ESPN is paying $550 cardinal for the caller three-year package, the aforesaid arsenic the past contract, according to radical acquainted with talks who were not authorized to remark publicly.

While ESPN and MLB exchanged harsh words erstwhile their longtime statement broke up earlier this year, some sides praised the eventual outcome, which puts a greater accent connected streaming.

“Bringing MLB.TV to ESPN’s caller app portion maintaining a beingness connected linear tv reflects a balanced attack to the shifts taking spot successful the mode that fans ticker shot and gives MLB a meaningful beingness connected an important destination for fans of each sports,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said successful a statement.

ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro called the woody “a fan-friendly agreement” that prioritizes the Walt Disney Co. unit’s “streaming future.”

“Sunday Night Baseball” volition determination to NBC, with 25 prime-time games connected the broadcast web oregon NBCUniversal’s streaming level Peacock. Already the location of “Sunday Night Football,” and “Sunday Night Basketball,” the summation of the MLB — astatine $200 cardinal a play — means NBC volition person unrecorded sports successful premier clip connected each Sunday passim the year.

The web is besides picking up the chaotic paper circular of the MLB postseason that had been carried connected ESPN.

In 2027 and 2028, NBC volition transportation the astir consequential crippled played connected the last Sunday of the season.

NBC Sports besides gains the rights to the precocious Sunday greeting game, which volition beryllium carried connected Peacock and followed by a “whip-around” amusement presenting enactment from contests astir the league that day. Peacock carried the greeting crippled successful 2023 and 2024 earlier it went to Roku this past season.

MLB games exclusive to Peacock volition besides beryllium shown connected the recently launched NBC Sports Network, which is being offered to cablegram and outer TV providers.

Netflix is paying astir $50 cardinal per twelvemonth to transportation the 2026 opening nighttime crippled betwixt the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees connected March 25. The yearly Home Run Derby, antecedently connected ESPN, besides moves to the streamer, arsenic does the Field of Dreams game, which volition beryllium played successful Dyersville, Iowa, wherever the acceptable for “Field of Dreams” is located.

The woody continues Netflix’s attack of offering assignment sporting events to its subscribers alternatively than investing successful a afloat play package.

The caller MLB deals lone tally for 3 years. The league wants them to align with its large TV rights bundle that includes the playoffs, the World Series and the All-Star Game. Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TBS transportation those packages until 2028.